WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 416: The Price of Fate (4)
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One thing I had not known in my previous life was that the stronger a martial artist became, the better they understood their own body.
For example, even in a place like this, where darkness had swallowed everything and there was no way to tell how much time had passed, I could roughly judge it from the state of my digestion.
‘Twenty-four sichen[1].’
That’s right.
Having reached a higher realm than in my previous life, I could now tell just how long I had endured this shitty situation in this shitty condition.
Well done, Jin Sowoon! Damn it!
“Ugh... Ugh...”
I released the paralysis acupoint and sat cross-legged, enduring pain so terrible it felt as though my soul had left my body. No, it had definitely left for a moment before returning.
Still, nothing had improved.
My dantian was ready to explode at any moment, while the Ren Meridian, Du Meridian, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and Twelve Primary Meridians were all tightly blocked.
It felt as though spear-length needles had been driven through my entire body like skewers.
Whenever I tried to move even a small amount of energy from my dantian...
“Ghk, hngh...!”
It felt as if red-hot needles were stabbing every energy channel the qi passed through.
Yet if I simply endured it, the Taiji Pellet boiling within my dantian desperately tried to spread its energy in every direction.
It thrashed about like a puppy that had heard, “Let’s go for a walk,” and that cheerful little thing, completely oblivious to its owner’s suffering, made my head throb.
There was another thing I had not known because so little was recorded about the Taiji Pellet.
The Taiji Pellet was not called the Taiji Pellet for nothing.
The two energies, yin and yang, repeatedly pulled and pushed against each other within my dantian, amplifying my internal energy even further.
How did I know that? After risking my life to sit cross-legged, I raised the Taeul True Scripture to suppress the Taiji Pellet...
Then the two energies within that insane Taiji Pellet began revolving around each other and wildly multiplying!
Damn Wudang Sect. Why would they make such an excellent elixir pellet?!
At the moment, I was suppressing the Taiji Pellet with the Taeul True Scripture pushed to its limit.
But I was dying.
No, it would be more accurate to say I was almost dead.
The flow of qi throughout my body had stopped, and my body was slowly beginning to necrose.
Skin that could no longer feel anything, labored breaths, and a heartbeat slowing enough to make my head go numb.
My mind was filled with hazy fragments of thought, as though shrouded in fog.
I reached for those fragments, but my consciousness drifted through the mist and gradually grew dimmer.
Then, one clear fragment rose among them.
‘Am I going to die like this?’
A premonition of death.
Die like this?
If I died...
What would happen to the people of Taeul Sect?
My junior disciples?
Those damned bastards at White Wolf Pavilion?
One by one, the fragments rose to the surface.
The dreadful sights I had seen in my previous life gradually became clearer within my clouded mind.
If I died here, the same thing would probably happen again...
“...!”
Die?
Fuck that!
If I was going to die here, I should have just let everything end in my previous life!
I briefly released the Taeul True Scripture and allowed the Taiji Pellet to move. Agony surged through my entire body once more.
“Guaaaah!”
The pain that shredded my nerves brought my mind sharply back into focus.
Then I retraced how I had ended up in this situation.
‘It definitely started because of that crazy old man.’
I recalled my last encounter with that damned old man.
[It is a sign that the balance of essence, qi, and spirit is slowly breaking down. If you keep increasing your internal energy so recklessly, you will be lucky if you only die from qi deviation.]
The inciting incident.
[Wudang and Shaolin possess countless treasures, but they do not simply pour internal energy into one person without restraint.]
The development.
[Then is the small amount of internal energy I sense from you related to that reason, Elder?]
[Heh heh heh. You are sharp, at least.]
The crisis.
I should have caught on then.
[Is there a way to become stronger by consuming elixir pellets?]
[There is.]
[Please teach me.]
[Why should I?]
Peak Realm.
Backing out at the decisive moment was a con artist’s classic move.
Had I known that and still fallen for it?
[Hmm... This should do instead.]
And then...
This was the fucking conclusion.
It was infuriating, but when I carefully looked back over it, everything from the beginning to the end had been arranged in my favor.
The old man had wanted the Taiji Pellet, yet instead of taking it, he had made me consume it.
If I died because of this, I would become the person assassinated by the most expensive method in the world.
No matter how crazy that old man was, he would not kill me this way.
That meant this was the “teaching” I had asked for.
Heat rose from deep within my chest.
‘That crazy old man... I asked him to teach me, and this is what he does?’
In any case, the old man had given me an answer to the problem I faced.
If I could break through this, it would be a fated encounter that allowed me to leap to the next level.
‘...Of course, I’ll die if I fail.’
A laugh escaped me at the scale of the old man’s plan.
Still, true to someone not in their right mind, he had thrown me into this without giving me a single clue.
‘At least tell me something before you do this...!’
I barely raised my head, which had grown so stiff it was difficult to move.
I had to break through this enormous, towering wall alone.
The daunting prospect made the back of my neck stiffen further. I steadied my breathing again.
Think, Jin Sowoon.
Find a way somehow.
This was not the first or second time I had survived a brush with death. I had to find an answer this time as well.
Then one solution came to mind.
‘Memory.’
I swallowed hard at the thought of the pain to come, and my entire body tensed.
Even so, I repeated to myself.
What else am I supposed to do?
I have to do it!
I released all the Taiji Pellet’s energy that I had tightly restrained with the Taeul True Scripture.
The energy started moving slowly, then rapidly accelerated and swelled wildly.
The crazy old man had been right about one thing, at least: the amount of internal energy.
If a few more energies like this occupied my dantian, the harmony of essence, qi, and spirit would quickly collapse.
Crack. Crack.
The Taiji Pellet’s energy pushed through my stiffening qi and blood circulation toward my heart.
The pain made my eyes feel as though they would pop out, but I endured it by biting down until my mouth was wounded.
Pain battered my entire body, so severe that I could not even smell the metallic scent of blood.
Even through it, I focused on the energy moving through my body.
The energy had reached my heart through the largest energy channel, but it could not spread through my body because the lesser meridians were blocked.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heartbeat accelerated, and I could feel my heart swelling as though it would burst.
Then the energy trapped in my heart, unable to spread through my body, headed straight for my head.
Thumpthumpthump.
Thumpthumpthumpthump.
As my heart beat faster, the fog that had filled my head vanished in an instant.
“Grrrgh...”
My head, overloaded by the Taiji Pellet’s energy, immediately dragged me into my mindscape.
I instantly recalled my single exchange with that crazy old man.
The moment I unleashed Extreme Swiftness, the first form of the Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms.
Even when I watched the frozen scene frame by frame, Extreme Swiftness was so fast that there were gaps between the moments I could see.
Then that crazy old man slipped through those gaps and reached inside my robe.
‘He saw that and found a way through it?’
For a moment, fear washed over me. What if that old man was something far beyond anything I could imagine?
That did not matter right now.
I studied the old man’s movements again and again.
Rewinding them, then playing them forward.
No matter how many times I watched, the old man’s movements remained astonishing.
Then I took it one step further.
I had never been able to do this, even within my mindscape, but with the Taiji Pellet’s energy overloading me, I should be able to now.
I erased every unnecessary detail from my sight and focused only on how the old man used his energy.
And then...
‘There’s no loss?’
I realized that the old man wasted no energy, none of the energy that should naturally have leaked away.
‘Is that... even possible?’
Unless my memory was wrong, the old man’s divine feat defied the laws of all creation.
‘Come to think of it.’
When Hyeonyeong exploded his innate qi, the amount of energy blooming over his shoulders had not been much.
Compared to when I exploded my innate qi at the Iron Sword Sect, it had been insignificant.
My total internal energy had clearly been lower, yet I had lost more energy.
Yes, I had lost more...
‘Is this it...!’
I wanted to consider other possibilities, but my body had reached its limit.
Thumpthumpthump.
Thumpthumpthumpthump.
It felt like my head would burst after my heart.
I had no intention of becoming a kettle with its spout plugged up, so I made my decision at once.
“I’m going with this!”
I began circulating my qi.
It was do or die now.
#
The Inspectorate had recently been on high alert after taking in a figure of unprecedented stature.
The next sect leader of Wudang Sect.
A senior official of the Martial Alliance’s Elders’ Council.
And the Society Leader of the Orthodox Society.
From the Inspectorate’s perspective, the arrival of Daoist Cheongsu, a figure with such dazzling credentials, as a prisoner was hardly welcome news.
Even if this matter went well, it would bring trouble. If it went poorly, the consequences would be even worse.
Ordinarily, the Pavilion Master, Deputy Pavilion Master, or at least an advisor would have personally conducted the investigation and interrogation.
For some reason, on the day of the investigation, the Pavilion Master who had been set to oversee the interrogation, the Deputy Pavilion Master, and even the advisors all suffered from stomachaches, high fevers, and minor qi deviation(?), leaving them unable to report to the Inspectorate.
An internal debate began over whether to postpone the investigation indefinitely or have the next person in line take over and proceed.
With the Pavilion Master and the highest-ranking officials absent, the Inspectorate’s Hall Masters turned their eyes toward the Great Hall Master.
No one knew what to do.
The Great Hall Master broke the silence hanging over the meeting room.
“...Proceed with the investigation.”
Ak Byeongbi guessed that the higher-ups would use indefinite sick leave as an excuse to avoid returning to the Inspectorate, so he personally took charge of Daoist Cheongsu’s interrogation.
“...Do you admit to the charges of murder, arson, and incitement to murder against the delegation’s key members?”
Ak Byeongbi read through the various charges with a stern expression.
Even notorious criminals and prominent figures from the Black Path martial world often found themselves too intimidated to speak properly before Ak Byeongbi’s massive frame, imposing appearance, and overwhelming aura.
Yet Daoist Cheongsu’s expression did not change in the slightest.
“I asked whether you admit it.”
Daoist Cheongsu only stared quietly into Ak Byeongbi’s eyes with an innocent expression.
“Do you believe those charges can be applied to me?”
“I don’t know why someone brought all the way to the Inspectorate is so confident.”
“You have killed countless members of the Black Path as the Hall Master of the Third Department. Have you ever been punished for murder?”
The prisoner attempted to establish their own legitimacy by bringing up the interrogator’s past.
Still, Ak Byeongbi did not fall for Daoist Cheongsu’s smooth attempt to muddy the issue.
“Alliance Law is strict so that no innocent person is wronged during trial. The victims were part of a delegation invited by the Alliance. This goes beyond the Black Path and the White Path. It is something no human being should do.”
Daoist Cheongsu’s cold eyes narrowed while looking at Ak Byeongbi.
“How interesting. You defend the Chief Strategist of the Black Alliance, whom an Inspectorate member should hate above all others.”
“A person’s guilt is judged by their actions, not their background or beliefs.”
“Hmm... There had been rumors that the Hall Master of the Third Department changed after visiting the Black Alliance. Was this what they meant?”
Ak Byeongbi’s calm expression stiffened for an instant.
“Enough of these games...”
“Surely you haven’t been brainwashed by Jin Sowoon as well?”
“...”
Daoist Cheongsu sneered and leaned back in the chair.
“I truly don’t understand. Why does everyone become so useless whenever they get involved with that bastard?”
Bang!
Ak Byeongbi slammed his fist onto the table.
“Are you that confident?”
Confident...
Daoist Cheongsu held Ak Byeongbi’s fierce gaze for a moment, then let out a quiet breath.
“It seems you are under a misconception.”
Daoist Cheongsu’s expression hardened, and the next words came in a low voice.
“How long do you think I’ll remain here? An attempted assassination of Dam Ak? Do you think that will be enough to hold me?”
“...”
“If war had broken out, our positions would have been reversed. Even if it had not, I will not be here for long.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Daoist Cheongsu gave a small laugh at Ak Byeongbi’s refusal to back down.
“Jin Sowoon is missing, I hear?”
“...!”
Ak Byeongbi sucked in a breath.
The Inspectorate’s Golden Prison was the most isolated place in the world.
How could Daoist Cheongsu know outside information that even Ak Byeongbi had not heard?
“It has already been seven day-night cycles since Dam Ak reunited with his forces. Why do you think Jin Sowoon has not returned?”
A triumphant smile appeared on Daoist Cheongsu’s lips.
“Are you confident?”
Ak Byeongbi could not immediately answer, and Daoist Cheongsu’s calm, even voice reached his ears.
“I will be leaving this place soon.”
[1] sichen: a traditional double-hour period; twenty-four sichen equals roughly forty-eight hours.
Footnotes:
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